Surgical-bandage fastener



J.. H. THOMAS.

SURGICAL BANDAGE FASTENEE APPLICATION FILED 1m. 22. m1.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. H. THOMAS SURGICAL BANDAGE FASTENER- APPLICATION FILEDJAN-22.19. h 1,313,138. PfltelltedAllg- 9 N 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ITI'IIHII IIIIIIIIIIII IIII v ts- 2 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. THOMAS, or Mo'UN'r VERNON, NEW YORK.

SURGICAL-BANDAGE FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 22, 1917. Serial No. 143,763.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. THoMAs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of I/Vestchester and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSurgical-Bandage Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to surgical appliances and-more particularly tobandage fasteners and the primary aim of the invention is to providemeans whereby a gauze bandage may be more conveniently, securely, andexpeditiously applied than by the ordinary methods. In applying bandagesby the.ordinary methods the exercise of considerable skill is requiredin reversing the bandage and in overfolding the same and carrying itabout the part to be bandaged in the various directions found necessaryin each particular case and unless this operation is skilfully performedthere is likelihood that the bandage will work loose or become otherwisedisplaced. The present invention, therefore, has as its object toprovide an appliance in the use of which a gauze bandage may be quicklyand conveniently applied and reversed, overturned, and carried atdifferent angles to suit the particular case without any particularattention being paidto the temporary holding in place of the bandage atthe fold or point of reversal.

Another aim of the invention is to provide an appliance of the classdescribed which will constitute a means for securing the end of.

the bandage without the necessity of stitching or otherwise securing thesame in place and which will at the same time permit of the readyremoval of the bandage when it is 'desired to apply a fresh one.

Another aim of the invention is to provide an appliance for the purposeheretofore stated which may be applied to practically any portion of theanatomy and which will conform to the shape of the part to which it isapplied without any discomfort to the patient. 1 V

Incidentally, the invention aimsto so construct the appliance that thesame will neither by undue rigidity or weight in any way causediscomfort to the patient to whom the bandage is applied.

Further, the invention aims to provide an appliance of this nature whichshall be in the form of a flexible or pliable strip from which lengthsmay be cut by the surgeon suitable to the member or area to be bandagedso that it is unnecessary to manufacture the appliance in differentlengths but, on the other hand, a strip constructed in accordance withthe invention and of any deslredlength may be carried by the surgeon andportions thereof severed when desired for use.

In the accompanying drawings: I Figure 1 is a perspective view of theappllance embodying the present invention and a bandage securedthereby,the same being illustrated as applied to the head of a patient; I V

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical transverse sectional view on the line 22 ofFig. 1 through the appliance and the bandage;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a portion of the strip comprising theinvention;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view illuss tratingan arrangement ofthe strip;

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the strip; Fig.6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the strip shown inFig. 3' arranged to encircle a part to be bandaged;

Fig. 7 is a detail transverse sectional view through the strip;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrate ing a modified form of theinvention;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a further modification.

The appliance embodying the present invention is in the nature of astrip indicated by the numeral 1 and this strip is relatively thin andmay be of any suitable width and of any desired length, the strip beingformed of any material suitable for the purpose and possessing thedesired degree of pliability. such, for example, as aluminum or copper,it being understood, however, that any material possessing the desiredproperties may be employed for the purposef At intervals in its lengththe strip is formed with integral piercing fingers, indicatediby thenumeral 2, and as shown in Fi gs. 5 and 6 these fingers are preferablyof lanceolate form and are relatively narrow and in forming the saidfingers the same are struck up from the strip 1 alternately fromopposite side of the longitudinal middle of the strip and all arecausedto ini tially assume positions in acommon plane perpendicular to theplane ofthe body of the strip and coincident with the said longitudi-Patented Aug; 12, 1919.

nal middle of the strip. In other words, the fingers are formed frommaterial struck up from the strip itself and the bases of the fingersare located in alinement at the longitudinal middle of the strip, thefingers, as before stated being struck up alternately from the strip atopposite sides of the said middle, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings. As stated, the fingers are of lanceolate form and near itsbase each finger is slightly narrowed, as at 3, so that after thefingers have pierced the gauze bandage in the act of applying thebandage after the appliance has been placed in position against the partor member about which the bandage is to be passed the threads of thebandage will, in tending to resume their normal condition, sink into theshallow recesses formed by narrowing the lower portions of the fingerswhereby to prevent accidental slipping of the said bandage from the saidfingers. Being of lanceolate form the ends of the fingers 2 are sharplypointed and the said ends or tips, indicated by the numeral 4, arehardened in any suitable manner so that while the fingers below theirtip ends are pliable due to the inherent pliability of the metal fromwhich the strip is formed. their said tip ends will not be liable to heaccidentally overturned or blunted as the gauze bandage is forceddownwardly over the fingers. For a purpose to be presently explained thestrip 1 is formed with perforations or slots 5 and these perforations orslots are arranged in two series extending longitudinally of the strip,the perforations or slots of the two series being alternately locatedopposite and close to the bases of alternate ones of the bandagepiercing fingers of the appliance. In. other words, the strip oppositethe side from which the finger isstruck. Each perforation or slot. is ofdimensions to permit of insertion therethrough of one of the piercingfingers.

A surgeon wishing to apply a bandage and secure the same in place by theuse of an appliance embodying the invention will cut from the strip asuitable length thereof depending, of course, upon the nature of thecase to be treated and this may be readily accomplished inasmuch as thestrip is comparatively thin and of relatively soft. and pliable metaland-as an aid-to the surgeon in determining the length to be cut thestrip may be provided at suitable intervals at or adjacent one or bothedges with scale marks 6 representing units of linear measurement as,for example, inches and fractions thereof. After having removed from thestrip a.

suitable length thereof, the surgeon disposesagainst the part to bebandaged a sufficient length of bandage or any other dressing which willprevent direct contact of the strip with the skin which would be likelyto cause discomfort to the patient and he then disposes against thisprotective strip the appliance which then constitutes the portion of thestrip 1 which he has removed. He next forces one end of the gauzebandage to be applied direct over the fingers 2 so that tho fingers willpierce the said bandage. He then proceeds to wind the bandage in theusual manner, forcing the same downwardly over the fingers each time thebandage crosses the appliance. Whenever it is desired to reverse thebandage or to overfold the same or carry the sameat an angle to thewrappings already made, this may readily be accomplished by merelyreversing the direction in which the bandage is car ried immediatelyafter it has been pierced by the fingers, the bandage adjacent the foldwhich provides for such reversal being, of course, again pierced by thefingers. It will be understood that this may be repeated any desirednumber of times and at the time of reversal the bandage may be carriedat any desired angle after the second penetration thereof by the fingers2. After the bandage has been properly applied the other end thereof isbrought across the appliance and forced downwardly to be pierced by thefingers 2 and all of the said fingers are then turned downin thedirection of the said end of the bandage, thereby firmly securing theend in place as also all of the folds and turns previously made therein.4

lVhile the fingers 2 are preferably of the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6of the drawings, it will be understood that they may be substantiallytriangular and relatively narrow, as indicated by the numeral 7 and asclearly shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings although the form of fingerpreviously illustrated is to be preferred as the narrowed lower portionthereof serves to prevent accidental slipping of the bandage from thesaid fingers. It will also be understood that fingers having variousother marginal contours may bestruck up from the strip 1 if desired. 1

When it is desired to remove the bandage for the purpose ofapplying afresh one or when the bandage is to be finally removed, this may bereadily accomplished without discomfort to the patient by merely bendingup the fingers 2 to'their initial or normal condition and thenproceeding to unwind the bandage as would ordinarily be done.

When it is desiredto adapt the appliance about a limb or about the headthis may be readily accomplished by first cutting off the desired lengthfrom a roll or other package of the. strip 1 and then disposing thesevered length to surround the limb or head, as the case maybe, withoneend of the said lengthoverlapping the other whereupon the end finger atthe extremity of the overlapped end of the said length of the strip maybe inserted through the perforation 5 at the extremity of theoverlapping end of the said length of the strip and bent down, asindicated by the numeral 2 and as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 6. of thedrawings. In this manner the ends of the strip are joined so that thestrip will be held about the part to which it is applied and while thisparticular finger 2 is thus rendered useless in securing the bandage inplace, nevertheless, the series of bandage piercing fingers will not beinterrupted for the piercing finger next adjacent the perforationthrough,

which the finger 2 is inserted, for this purpose, takes the place of thesaid finger 2.

Under some conditions, as for example, in applying a bandage to theshoulder, it will be found preferable to make use of that form of theinvention shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings. In this form of the inventionany suitable number of lengths of the strip 1, indicated by the numeral8, are assembled with their ends overlapping a short distance and areconnected by means of pivots 9 passed through one corner of each strip.Thus one strip or length may be caused to assume a position out ofalinement with the next adjacent strip or length to suit the case andthe conditions under which the appliance is to be employed.

WVhile the appliance has been illustrated and described herein as in thenature of a pliable strip it will be understood, of course, thatinasmuch as the strip constitutes the base of the fastener, a base ofany other type may be employed, such for example, as

a disk or a strip of a definite length or a plate of definite dimensionswithout departing from the spirit of the invention. It will also beunderstood that in the first illustrated and described form of theinvention the narrowed portions of the fingers 2 result in effect in theformation of shoulders which may be more defined than as illustrated inthe drawings if desired. Also if desired the base of the fastener may bemade sufliciently rigid as to constitute a splint so that it will servetwo purposes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A bandage fastener including a pliable base, and bandage piercingfingers projecting from one face thereof, the said base be-, ing formedat intervals with slots, whereby when the base has been applied toencircle a part to be bandaged one of the fingers at one end of the basemay be engaged in one of the slots at the other end of the base to holdthe fastener in place.

2. A bandage fastener including a flexible base formed at intervals withopenings, and pliable bandage piercing fingers projecting from one faceof the base, whereby when the base has been applied to encircle a partto be bandaged one of the fingers at one end of the base may be engagedthrough one of the openings at the other end of the base and bent downto hold the ends of the base connected.

8. A bandage fastener including pliable base sections connected forrelative angular adjustment, and pliable bandage piercing fingersprojecting from one face thereof.

4. A bandage fastener including a base having bandage piercing fingersstruckup therefrom and in a longitudinal series, the said fingers beingpliable and the said base being formed with two series of slotsextending at the opposite sides of the series of fingers, the slots ofthe two series being, arranged in staggered relation and each slot beinglocated opposite an openin formed by stamping up the finger nextadjacent the slot.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOHN H. THOMAS. L 8.]

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0.

